Hello again to Colette and hello List!
As one of the American readers of this list, let me tell you what little I know about obtaining citizenship in the United States. Perhaps Bianca's answer also mentions the same topics, but not being able to read German, I can't say (unfortunately!). Naturalization is the process by which one obtains citizenship in the US. I have obtained the naturalization papers for my great-grandparents who came from Germany. The first step is to file a Declaration of Intent with the court. In Monroe County in the state of New York, that declaration would be filed with the County Court before 1906. After that, the papers would be filed with the Federal government. The next step would be to file a Petition for Citizenship. Several years later (not sure how many, but I believe it was three), the court would issue a Certificate of Naturalization. Of the three documents, the Petition for Citizenship gives the most information of genealogical value.
Much of what I write above is taken from a booklet published by a fellow member of the Rochester Genealogical Society, Richard T. Halsey "Genealogical Guide to Monroe County, New York" 2nd Edition.
Colette, I know you are computer smart, so perhaps you could 'google' the terms (naturalization, citizenship, etc.) for Pennsylvania and find out where to write for more information. The LDS has filmed the records for Monroe County, so perhaps a search at www.familysearch.org would be in order.
Good luck!
Bob Wambach
Colette wrote:
Hallo Listies,
heute wende ich mich an die Amerikaner unter Euch, speziell an die, die
in Philadelphia wohnen, oder sonst kundige Leute sind.
Mein Urgrossvater, geb�rtig aus K�ln, hat zwischen 1878 und 1883 einen
"Heimatschein" in Philadelphia erworben.
Bei seiner Anmeldung in Schweinfurt im September 1883 gab er jedenfalls
als Heimat Philadelphia an. Er muss seine amerikanische
Staatsangeh�rigkeit behalten haben, denn als meine 1887 in Pommern
geborene Grossmutter w�hrend des 1. Weltkrieges heiraten wollte, wurde
sie zu ihrem Erstaunen als "feindliche Ausl�nderin" eingestuft und
sollte interniert werden.
Kann mir vielleicht jemand sagen, wo ich erfahren kann, wann und wie er
diesen Heimatschein erworben hat? Und was das genaue Wort daf�r auf
Englisch ist?
Vielen Dank im Voraus!
Hello to the American readers of this list,
I need help concerning the citizenship which my greatgrandfather seems
to have obtained in Philadelphia/Penns. between 1878 and 1883. How and
where can I get more information? And what would the "Heimatschein" he
brought back be called in English?
He might have been in the States between 1878 and 1881 on his own, but
got married in Germany in 1881. The couple must have been together in
the States between 1881 and 1883, when he came back to work in
Schweinfurt and gave Philadelphia as his home town at the registration
office.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Colette (Llorca)